IRAQ HAUNTS SYRIA CHOICES, by POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein: “President Barack Obama’s response to increasing evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria seems to have as much to do with Baghdad as with Damascus. The ghosts of the Iraq War weigh heavily on the president and his top advisers handling the Syria crisis, according to former officials and analysts close to the administration: They don’t want to get it wrong. They don’t want to move too quickly. They don’t want to spend the second term getting embroiled in toppling another Middle East conflict and cleaning up the aftermath after spending the first term getting untangled from the last war.” http://politi.co/11osQci

WHITE HOUSE IN A BIND, by POLITICO’s Stephanie Gaskell, Juana Summers and Philip Ewing: “Obama has talked tough in trying to dissuade Syrian President Bashar Assad from using chemical weapons against the rebels in Syria’s civil war, warning it would be a ‘red line’ and a ‘game changer.’ Now, Assad has called his bluff, and Obama wants time and space to decide what comes next.

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“A White House official told reporters that ‘all options are on the table in terms of our response’ but did not want to ‘get into hypotheticals at this juncture.’ The official stressed the need for ‘a strong, firm, evidentiary basis to inform the way we consult our friends and allies.’ Without mentioning it by name, the official invoked the run-up to the invasion of Iraq as a reason to be absolutely certain that Assad has actually used the sarin gas.” http://politi.co/14dsZ7W

CONGRESSIONAL REAX:

— House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio): “If Assad sees any equivocation on the red line, it will embolden his regime. ... After two years of brutal conflict, it’s past time for the president to have a robust conversation with the Congress and the American people about how best to bring Assad’s tyranny to an end.”

— HASC Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.): “It appears that the president is outsourcing our national security analysis to the United Nations. I do question the utility of red lines if they lack clearly delineated boundaries and meaningful consequences. I am confident the president does not wish for America’s resolve to be called into question.”

— HASC ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.): “As we consider option to respond to this atrocity, I am not convinced that military action is appropriate at this time. There is no evidence that U.S. military action will achieve anything, except cost American lives and treasure. ... We should work with the international community, as well as our allies in the region, to consider the best options to remove Assad from power and promote a regime that has the support of the Syrian people.”

TRAVELS WITH HAGEL — SECDEF TALKS WEAPONS DEAL IN UAE: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, nearing the end of his weeklong trip to the Middle East, was in the United Arab Emirates yesterday when he first made the announcement that the intelligence community assesses “with some degree of varying confidence” that Syria has used chemical weapons “on a small scale.” In the UAE, Hagel also met with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, discussing the country’s recent purchase of 25 F-16 Block 60 aircraft, according to a DoD readout.

“The additional F-16s will increase both nations’ interoperability and enhance their ability to perform joint and coalition security operations,” Pentagon press secretary George Little said in a statement. “The secretary and the crown prince also discussed a range of regional challenges, including the need for Iran to meet its international obligations with respect to its nuclear program, the ongoing conflict in Syria, and countering the threat of violent extremism.”

BULLETIN — McKEON SETS NDAA MARKUP FOR FIRST WEEK OF JUNE: Subcommittee markups for HASC will begin on May 22, and the full committee will meet on June 5 to debate the FY14 NDAA. SASC has previously said it’ll begin its full-committee markup on June 12.

THE JUICE — HUNTER IRKS ODIERNO: Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno lost his cool yesterday during a HASC hearing after Rep. Duncan Hunter got up to leave the room before Army leaders could respond to the California Republican’s charges regarding the service’s Distributed Common Ground System. Hunter has previously called the intelligence-gathering system a waste of money and yesterday accused the Army of making it difficult for troops in Afghanistan to get their hands on off-the-shelf commercial products that could be used in its place.

“I object to this,” Odierno shouted after Hunter, a Marine combat veteran, had stood up to leave. “I’m tired of somebody telling me that I don’t care about our soldiers, that we don’t respond. Everybody on my staff cares about it, and they do all they can to help.”

“You have a very powerful personality,” Hunter shot back, “but that doesn’t refute the facts that you have gaps in the capability and the structure that the Army’s using right now.”

“Well, you weren’t going to let us say anything,” Odierno later said.

“You’re right, but I have that prerogative when I’m sitting up here,” Hunter responded.

The two continued sniping until a smiling McKeon stepped in. “You both had your word on this now,” the HASC chairman said. “We will follow up with these meetings. We will get to the bottom of this.”

— HAPPENING TODAY: Army officials are set to confer with House and Senate aides on the Army’s DCGS, which has been hit by a wave of negative publicity over the past year fueled by Hunter’s accusations. Service leaders will update congressional staffers “on the current intelligence analysis process situation in Afghanistan,” according to an email obtained by POLITICO. And the DCGS program manager will be accompanied at the meeting by soldiers “who have recently returned from Afghanistan who will share their experiences with DCGS.”

MARINES SEND RAPID-RESPONSE TEAM TO SPAIN, via CNN’s Barbara Starr: “The first of 500 Marines have begun deploying to Spain as part of a new rapid reaction force to respond to threats against U.S. citizens, government personnel or installations in Africa. The new task force is based at Moron Air Base in southern Spain, which provides quick access especially to northern Africa, where security concerns have grown since the September 2012 attack on a U.S. government facility in Benghazi, Libya, a Pentagon official told CNN. Deployment began Wednesday.” http://bit.ly/ZRiVcI

DUNFORD ENDORSES AYOTTE-BLUMENTHAL CONTRACTING BILL: Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) are touting some major military endorsements for their bill to make it easier for DoD contracting officials to halt payments to contractors that are funneling the money to U.S. enemies. Gen. Joe Dunford, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, threw his weight behind the bill last week, saying it “makes a lot of sense.” And Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, said in a statement, “The Congress should enact this legislation, which would help all federal agencies serve as better financial stewards and improve the protection of our national security interests.”

We expect to see this bill brought up during the debate over the defense authorization bill.

WHAT PROS ARE READING:

— PORTSMOUTH SHIPYARD BATTLES BACK, by POLITICO’s Leigh Munsil: “With furloughs looming, defense spending tanking and a new round of base closures recommended by the Pentagon, Portsmouth has often been mentioned during the initial congressional hearings on the administration’s 2014 budget as an example of just what’s at stake for thousands of workers.” http://politico.pro/15SDVbc

— AIR FORCE FACES MOUNTAINS OF DRONE DATA, by POLITICO’s Hadas Gold: “The Air Force is looking to rein in the mounds of data it gets from its extensive drone program, hoping to develop larger and better network, storage and analytic capabilities. ... [Air Force Lt. Gen. Larry D. James] said that by this summer, the Air Force will likely approve a ‘road map’ that lays out how to fuse the ‘all-source’ data as well as the analytical capabilities needed so the Air Force is ‘not just flooded [with data] and can’t do anything with it.’” http://politico.pro/10fgPmZ

WHO’S WHERE WHEN:

8 a.m.: HASC’s Readiness Subcommittee holds a hearing on the readiness posture of the Navy and Marine Corps.

10:30 a.m.: HASC’s Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces holds a hearing on Army modernization programs.

MAKING MOVES:

— AMOS RELIEVES HEAD OF QUANTICO OFFICER SCHOOL: The commander of the Marine Corps’ Officer Candidates School, Col. Kris J. Stillings, has been relieved from his job, reports Andrew deGrandpre of Marine Corps Times. Last month, three Marine staffers at the school were killed in an apparent murder-suicide. “I just lost confidence in Col. Stillings’s ability to handle all the many, many requirements of Officer Candidates School, being commanding officer,” Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos told the newspaper of his “painful decision.”

For his part, Stillings told Marine Corps Times his command and the Marines there “mean the world to me.” He added: “My wife and I are greatly saddened and upset by my relief, but we wish only the best for the Marines and sailors that work so hard at OCS. My relief is internal Marine Corps business, and I will address my concerns through the appropriate military process.” http://bit.ly/11ELoGR

— NEW HEAD OF DEFENSE HEALTH AGENCY: Air Force Maj. Gen. Douglas Robb has been appointed director of the Defense Health Agency. Robb is a “chief flight surgeon with more than 1,600 flying hours,” according to his official bio, and currently serves as Joint Staff surgeon, the chief medical adviser to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey.

THAT’S ALL FOR US. Have a great weekend.

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Authors:

About The Author

Austin Wright is a senior defense reporter based at the Pentagon covering budget, policy and national security issues. He has been with POLITICO since 2011 and was previously a web producer and author of the widely read newsletter Morning Defense.

Before POLITICO, Wright worked for National Defense magazine, interned at The Chronicle of Higher Education and taught sixth-grade English at Kramer Middle School in Washington.

Wright hails from Richmond, Va., and graduated in 2009 from the College of William and Mary, where he was editor of the student newspaper, The Flat Hat. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Leanne, and their dog, Kernel.